On the surface, the film is about a man whose face is destroyed in a factory explosion, and who is given a new and life-like mask by a doctor. To the accompaniment of a subplot of doom-laden references, he discovers that he is slowly becoming the kind of man who would have the kind of face he is now wearing. There is no such thing as "himself" — he is leally wearing "the face of another".

Teshigawara retums to the fascinating, obsessive style of Woman in the Dunes with this potrayal of fear and isolation. Reflecting the disturbing problems of human relations, the director weaves complex ideas simultaneously on two levels: lifting his faceless man out of convention, and involving the audience in a living dreamworld where fantasy is disturbingly true to life.